Staff in revolt as ‘thousands of scans’ go unchecked at Sydney hospital

The head of five inner-Sydney hospitals has stared down calls to resign after staff at one claimed they had suffered a “death from a thousand cuts”, leading to a massive backlog of unreported scans.

The Sydney Local Health District, a state government agency, defended chief executive Teresa Anderson on Friday, after a vote of no confidence in her leadership was carried at a meeting of the medical staff council at Concord Hospital.

Dr Teresa Anderson, chief executive of Sydney Local Health District.Credit: James Brickwood

More than 250 senior staff were at the meeting, with 60 per cent voting in favour of the no-confidence motion.

Staff had expressed concerns about the emergency and radiology departments in particular.

Current and former employees told the Herald successive cuts to staffing levels in the radiology department had led to a backlog of thousands of unreported scans. One current member of the radiology department said the backlog consisted of more than 30,000 scans.

“Patient care is affected because urgent scans don’t get reported by radiology, and that means someone who is not a radiologist has to make the decision,” said one radiologist formerly employed at Concord, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

A vote of no confidence in Anderson’s leadership was carried at a meeting of the medical staff council at Concord Hospital.Credit: James Brickwood

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter, but other times it’s a cancer that should have been treated, or something that needed immediate treatment.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Sydney LHD said the public agency was working to address delayed reporting of radiology scans at Concord Hospital, but said a state and nationwide shortage of radiology clinicians had made it difficult to recruit staff.

“Nevertheless, the hospital has been and is actively looking to replace those staff and there have been no cuts to pre-pandemic staffing levels,” the spokesman said.

Associate Professor Winston Cheung.Credit: The Georges Institute

The vote of no confidence was initiated by Associate Professor Winston Cheung, who survived a counter-motion against his leadership of the council representing the hospital’s medical staff.

In an internal email sent to staff and seen by the Herald, Cheung wrote that he did not believe Anderson’s management style was consistent with the expectations of Concord Hospital staff, patients and families.

Colleagues expressed their support for Cheung in response.

“There has been a slow death by over a thousand cuts in Concord,” one doctor wrote. “Let’s get this sorted.”

“It’s time that all departments are given a share of the RPA-centric pie,” wrote another.

Cheung declined to comment publicly.

The vote, which staff say was the first in three decades, comes after Anderson was embroiled in a separate controversy regarding a cardiothoracic surgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Two initial expert investigations found serious deficiencies in the practice of cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Michael Byrom, who was the subject of whistleblower complaints by other hospital staff.

The first review, commissioned in 2016, recommended a suite of interventions before Byrom returned to full clinical privileges.

After the second review, the investigators did not recommend another period of remediation and urged the Sydney Local Health District to consider their findings when deciding whether to renew Byrom’s contract.

Anderson commissioned a third expert investigation, which reversed the findings of the earlier reviews, and sent staff a memo exonerating Byrom.

Whistleblowing staff complained to the Health Care Complaints Commission, which did not find evidence of significant clinical departures warranting cancelling Byrom’s registration, but referred him to the NSW Medical Council for a performance assessment.

In 2020, the Australian reported the NSW Medical Council had restricted Byrom from performing major heart and lung surgery and placed him on a stringent program of supervision and retraining. It is understood those extensive conditions have since been lifted.

Anderson, a speech pathologist by training, oversees 12,000 staff across five hospitals including Concord, RPA, Canterbury, Balmain and the Sydney Dental Hospital. She has held the role since 2011.

Anderson and the Sydney LHD did not comment on the Byrom matter.

“We greatly value the vital role of clinician feedback and engagement and will continue to listen to and work with the clinicians and all staff at Concord Hospital to ensure we continue to achieve the best health outcomes for our patients,” the LHD spokesman said in a statement.

Health Minister Ryan Park said he was concerned to learn of the issues raised at Concord Hospital but would not say whether Anderson should resign.

“I encourage all staff members to report any concerns, and those who do are supported to report their concerns through appropriate channels,” he said.

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